Chapter 8: Telling a legend to your worst enemy

Li Yan did not move an inch and allowed Su Jian to hold him against the wall. He was being cornered, but he didn't feel any aggravation about it. To tell the truth, it felt good. Perfectly.

If he were in his original body, Su Jian would have caused his death at that instant; his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears. His face turned red in a puff of wind, and the blush even spread to his neck and ears. That had to be quite an embarrassing sight.

To his luck, Su Jian was not looking at his face. The reason for this was that he could not deal with his own embarrassment, and on his flushed face even beads of cold sweat glistened. If he did not look at Li Yan's face, it was only to avoid exposing himself.

He was not nervous because it was his first time in such a situation, he was nervous because it was Li Yan; and the same applied in the case of young Li. No matter how many people the two of them had met, kissed and even touched throughout their lives, nothing could compare to their worst enemy: a love deemed impossible.

Su Jian and Su WuLi had the same voice and, back in his world, Su Jian had been praised many times for his deep, enticing voice. He would have been a real fool not to use that to his advantage.

His lips moved to one of Li BaoGui's ears, brushing it and warming it with his own breath. Trapped between Su WuLi's body and the wall, Li BaoGui felt his body trembling.

"According to the history of the Great Dragon River, our empire and the northern empire were one land."

[If this is not obvious enough, I think there will be no chance for my love in this life.]

But Li Yan thought, [Su-ge has a strange way of telling stories, at this rate my Yan'er is going to get up.]

However, Li Yan didn't make any sound or move, he was afraid of putting his hands in a wrong place 'by mistake'. Feeling Su WuLi's voice straight in his ear, a tingle ran down his entire back and made him press his lips together.

"One day, a red dragon fell from the skies. It is said that its scales were torn and fallen to the point that its bones and flesh were visible, blood gushed from its wounds wetting the earth." Su Jian spoke slowly.

He wanted to make sure that every word that came out of his mouth was heard loud and clear, he wanted Li Yan to keep trembling inches away from his body.

"The dragon roared and cried without explanation, and his huge figure struck the earth as he writhed, devastating all the nearby cities and forests. What was happening to him? No one knew, they only knew that he must have been immersed in deep pain."

Pain? weeping? The story Su Jian was telling was sad, but Li Yan could not concentrate on his words. His almond-shaped eyes looked straight ahead and yet saw nothing, his brain was boiling under the sound of that voice.

"When the earth reached the point of splitting in two, and formed multiple cracks thanks to his blows and weight, an immortal descended. And he subdued the dragon until he was forced to become a red serpent, which slithered northward. It was the immortal who said that Jiang Shui should be worshipped in both empires, as this would appease the dragon. The cracks were filled with water by the will of the heavens, forming the Great Dragon River and the Dragon Tail that runs through our county."

At first glance, it looked like a scene of bullying by a bully on an innocent boy, and when Li Yan put that idea to the top of his heated mind, he felt satisfied. He was more than sure that his kind were the bad guys.

"Jiang Shui is the Lady of good harvests, but she also protects villages from floods and you can pray to her asking to be reunited with loved ones. She does not trample the dragon. She belongs to the dragon, and the dragon also belongs to her. They are two lovers who have reunited. There are some villages that stopped praying to her, but that's another history." Su WuLi took a pause and then asked. "What do you think of the story?"

If Li Yan could have answered, his answer would have been the same as he thought, [Which story?]

His mind was lost at the thought of being a pretty boy caught in the clutches of a wolf, he failed to understand even half of the story. His belly gave him a new tingling sensation, similar to the one he felt when he saw Su Jian's strong arms chopping firewood... Li BaoGui instinctively squeezed his legs together, trying to contain his lower body's reactions. That body had a 'heavenly gift' that felt more like a curse.

Su WuLi didn't know how much Li Yan was suffering, he only knew that being that way with him was addictive. He didn't want to break away even when the story had already been told; he wanted to keep breathing in Li BaoGui's fresh scent, wanted to keep seeing that thin white collar, breathe on that little ear colored by red.

From his position he could catch a brief glimpse of the back of the other's neck, where the mark that signaled a difference between the men resided. It was as if Li BaoGui had a peach blossom tattooed on his skin, yet it was a birthmark; the birthmark that gave him away as a fertile man, a man capable of becoming pregnant.

Su Jian knew, through Su WuLi's memories, that that mark really smelled like peach blossoms. And that Li BaoGui made embarrassing sounds if touched right there.

Temptation struck him like a bolt from the blue.

In a scene that, from Li Yan's perspective, looked like something out of a porn movie with a questionable plot, Su WuLi stuck to Li BaoGui's body and pounced on that mark. Li BaoGui cowered as if trying to resist, but his action was so poor that it was obvious he was faking it.

Su WuLi's nose came close to that spot, inhaling the sweet scent of peach fruits and flowers. It was exquisite and intoxicating. He couldn't help but want more. His lips touched the soft skin, and kissed the pink mark peach blossom shaped.

Just like in Su WuLi's memories, Li BaoGui's body shuddered and a tender sound came from his lips.

Then, like thunder in the clear sky, Li XuDan shouted from outside.

"Shushu!"

When Li XuDan entered the kitchen, both men were standing by the boiling pot. The atmosphere was strange as were their stiff smiles, and it got stranger for the young woman when she took a breath.

"En... Shushu, I think your medicine is burning."

Indeed, the medicine did burn.

Su Jian poured himself a cup of water while his husband-enemy and niece talked and decocted more medicine. He took a sip and then looked at his reflection in the clear water, what did he see? A jerk.

His intention was to flirt openly and noticeably, but he ended up looking like a flower thief. Having reached that point, he was surprised his ancestors didn't show up in his dreams to torment him.

He drank the rest of the water and left the cup in the same place where he had found it. He turned and left the kitchen with the intention of going to fulfill his task, however, Li BaoGui followed him outside to hand him a basket to carry food.

"Don't forget the tangyuan."

In the past, when Su Jian forgot something, he had to run back home on his own.

"Thank you." Su WuLi received the basket.

Su WuLi wanted to open his mouth and talk about what happened, but he didn't need to. Li BaoGui said:

"Next time, you should tell me that you want to touch the mark before you do it. But I'm not angry, don't worry."

The other nodded with a vacant expression and left the courtyard.

Su WuLi hid his dejection until he went out to the street, that's where he bent his face and wept bitterly a couple of tears.

[Li Yan, you heartless man!]

However, he pulled himself together on the way to his propiety. He had already broken the cauldrons and sunk the ships, he had to go ahead with his poor strategy.

[…]

[If I had the internet right now I could get some help.]

[How am I supposed to conquer someone who, in theory, I should have already conquered?]

[Su WuLi, you bastard, how can a man as terrible as you be luckier than me!]

The day before, Su WuLi's cousins had seen him injected with chicken blood and that was strange. Now, the next day, they saw him sad and downcast like a man who had just lost his father.

Had the young man of the Li family woken up and noticed his stupidity? Had he already gotten that leech out of his life?

Su WuLi's cousins wanted to laugh, and indeed they laughed. But Su Jian didn't understand what they were laughing about, so he continued working.

When he returned home, he took a hot bath in the tub that Li BaoGui had prepared for him. Since they were now both sleeping in the same bedroom, Su WuLi wanted to wait for his enemy-husband.

In the end, he fell asleep in bed due to exhaustion.

Li BaoGui returned after drinking a last cup of tea in the company of his niece, and quietly entered the room to see the body of his nemesis lying on the bed.

As he placed his clothes in the right place, he noticed, under the candlelight, that the basket he used to send the tangyuan was on the table.

He moved closer to make out the shapes, and it turned out that the basket had been filled with red chrysanthemums. Li BaoGui smiled, sitting down at the table to take the time to look at the flowers. According to his memories he had married Su WuLi at that time of year, when chrysanthemums were blooming all over the county and the scent of osmanthus abounded in the air.

Her heart fluttered at the thought that Su Jian had chosen them for that very reason.

Li Yan sighed holding a flower in his hands, if only Su Jian would be easier to understand. He looked down at the bed for a moment and the smile on his face disappeared.

What had he done wrong to make his beloved Su-ge hate him?

If he knew... Maybe he wouldn't have fixed it. In his mind, he hated himself for it, but he also considered it the best thing in his past life.

Su Jian had lost many people throughout his childhood, if Li Yan had been more selfish than he was, and had been more stubborn in the decision to be his boyfriend; sooner or later he would become another crack in Su Jian's heart.

Sooner or later Li Yan's heart would have stopped, and it would only cause him more pain.

He didn't want to do that, so, he had decided that he would make sure to heal himself first. After that, when he would be sure he will survive as Li BaoGui, he would do his best to conquer Su Jian.